West Bank Bears U8 V Heysham Atoms U8 7th May 2017

An impressive opposition!

This week West Bank were lucky enough to find themselves in the early morning Lancashire sunshine and up against a team of gentlemen, players and coaches alike.

The match began with this week’s captain Shaun Arnold shaking hands with the opposition and then Harry Nuttall taking the first ball in. West Bank looked every bit in control but with the splendid defence from Heysham, West Bank were curtailed for the moment. Oliver Edge took the next ball in with gusto and this was followed with an expert drop off from Shaun to Jacob Potter for him to score the first try of the game in the left corner of the field. Try as they might, Heysham were unable to score in their first set, this was not due to lack of effort on their part but superb tackling from Jack Egerton and impressive support from Oliver Edge. In West Bank’s next set Danyl O’Brien had a superb run before Oliver Edge made a successful hand off to Jack Egerton who made great ground. Next, Thomas Stanton passed to Harry Nuttall who off loaded to Danyl O’Brien who was unfortunately run into touch by the Heysham defence. More class running from Oliver Edge and Harry Nuttall wasn’t enough to break through the Heysham line in this set as the last play of the ball led to the turn over. In Heysham’s next set we saw first rate defence from Shaun Arnold, Danyl O’Brien, and Thomas Stanton; and with a new found confidence, Oliver Edge. West Bank’s next set led to another try, this time from Thomas Stanton, this was after Shaun Arnold dummied the ball, off-loaded to Jacob Potter who passed to Hayden McInerney. With daunting pressure from Heysham this was a feat for the Bears. Heysham’s next set with the ball was also unsuccessful as we witnessed immense pressure from Shaun Arnold, Jack Egerton and Hayden McInerney. At the start of West Bank’s next set with the ball we observed exceptional teamwork as Hayden McInerney, passed to Harry who off loaded to Shaun who wove through the defence to score try number 3 for the Bears.

The second quarter of the game began with Heysham running the ball up field. Bystanders were left speechless as the talented Thomas Boyes making an exceptional one on one tackle. West Bank followed this up in their first set of the quarter with an amazing run from the superb Harry Nuttall who almost ran the full length of the field. Next, the daring Danyl O’Brien ran the ball in and off loaded to first rate Alfie Ryan who was put under extreme pressure by the defence of Heysham. Try number four for West Bank was up next as Hayden McInerney switched the ball to Jack Egerton to score for the Bears. Spurred on by the strong defence from Oliver Edge, our new boys Lewis Lawrenson and Alfie Ryan showed their worth in defence and all three kept up the pressure to deny Heysham from scoring. When West Bank next took control of the ball it was Alfie Ryan who made good ground by running around the defence. This led to Lewis Lawrenson with a superb run, off loaded to Jack Egerton who ran all the way and scored try number 5 for the Bears. It was Heysham’s turn with the ball next and as West Bank seemed to relax; the Heysham lads tricked the defence and ran in their first and well deserved try. West Bank were straight back at the Atoms next as the tremendous Thomas Boyes ran near enough a full lengther only to be caught short of the line; but after the play the ball the fabulous Hayden McInerney put the ball over again for the Bears. Just before half-time, eyewitnesses observed what turned out to be the tackle of the match as Thomas Boyes came from nowhere to prevent the Atoms from scoring.

Half time, West Bank 24 – Heysham 4

West Bank started the second half in style as Hayden McInerney made an exquisite off load to Thomas Stanton who went like a knife through butter through the defence and scored try number 7 for the Bears. It was down to Hayden and Thomas once again to prevent Heysham from scoring any points in their next set. West Banks next try came from Shaun Arnold who zig-zagged through the Heysham line after a splendid off load from Alfie Ryan. With Alfie Ryan keeping up the chase on Heysham and a breathtaking one on one tackle from Thomas Stanton it was clear they were not going to score in this set. An impressive ball from Jack Egerton to Shaun Arnold created the eighth try for the Bears and a hat trick for Shaun.

In the last quarter of the game we witnessed an admirable tackle from Thomas Boyes who showed no fear as he defended the Bears line. In their next set we witnessed impressive running by Harry Nuttall, Jacob Potter, Lewis Lawrenson and Thomas Stanton. The next run by Jack Egerton was inspired after he offloaded to Harry who passed the Alfie Ryan and try number ten was scored by the talented Thomas Boyes who took the ball over. Heysham’s bravery never waned as they went into their next set but a fantastic tackle after tackle from Thomas Boyes kept them at bay. Exceptional running and tremendous teamwork from West Bank made the final try of the game for the Bears a sight to behold. Harry Nuttall and Jack Egerton made a commanding run as did Shaun, off loading to Oliver who passed to Thomas Boyes who off loaded back to Jack Egerton before Lewis Lawrenson stayed out of touch and went over the line for try number 11. In the final set of the match it was almost try time twice over for Oliver Edge who was tackled centimetres from the line. Another great result for the Bears against an up and coming Heysham team.